Eleanor Wolfe stopped in the middle of a sentence and held the pause for exactly as long as she needed to.
"That I find entirely sufficient," she said. "Which is the highest assessment I make of anyone."
The room was quiet.
Then Richard Holt raised his hand. He did not wait to be called on — he had been on this council for twenty-two years and had the particular authority of someone who has earned the right to the room's attention and does not need to ask for it.
"The council's oversight role," he said. "What changes structurally going forward?"
Eleanor looked at him with the expression of someone who had anticipated this question and is satisfied to be delivering the answer she prepared.
"The council's oversight function remains intact," she said. "What changes is the addition of a
